"Shortcut" Versus "Alias" in Cognos Framework Manager

Regular shortcut is as reference to the target object. Alias shortcut is like a copy of the original object with completely independent behavior. Alias shortcut is available only for query subjects and dimensions.

Regular shortcut is typically used as conformed dimension with star schema groups, creating multiple references with the same name and appearance in multiple places. In the example below, the shortcuts for Products and Order Time are created in two groups: Product Forecast and Sales Target. 

 

Note: If a query is written to use Products shortcut from both Product Forecast and Sales Target, the query uses the definition of Products only once in the query.

Alias shortcut is typically used in role-playing dimensions or shared tables. In this example, Sales Staff and Sales Branch can be treated as different hierarchies. If we need to report orders against Sales Branch and Sales Staff independently as well as together, we need to create an alias to Sales Branch that can be used as a level in the Sales Staff hierarchy.

 

With the new alias shortcut, we can create queries that require orders by sales branch and orders by sales staff with their current branch information simultaneously.